Clip attachment for mounting guide sticks, secondary brushes, and the like on a paint brush



June 5, 1962 F. KURSCHNER 3,037,231

CLIP ATTACHMENT FOR MOUNTING GUIDE STICKS, SECONDARY BRUSHES, AND THE LIKE ON A PAINT BRUSH Filed Aug. 18, 1959 AT TOR/\IEY atent 3,837,231 Patented June 5, 1962 CLIP ATTACHMENT FOR MOUNTING GUIDE STICKS, SECONDARY BRUSHES, AND THE This invention relates broadly to painters and decorators supplies; more particularly to paint brushes; and specifically to a clip attachment applicable to a primary paint brush whereby a secondary brush or a guide stick is adjustably mounted by the said primary brush.

This invention is in the nature of an improvement in the disclosures made by me in applications filed in the United States Patent Office to wit: Guide Stick and Support for Paint Brushes, Ser. No. 715,971, filed February 18, 1958, now Patent No. 2,947,018, and Clip Attachment for Paint Brushes for Mounting a Secondary Brush, Ser. No. 525,208, filed July 29, 1955, now Patent No. 2,917,763.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a clip attachment for mounting secondary brush or guide sticks on primary brushes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of the class described wherein the same is laterally adjustable to fit primary paint brushes of all Widths.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of the class described wherein the mounted secondary brush or guide stick is endwise adjustable relative to the primary brush.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of the class described wherein the mounted secondary brush or guide stick is spring loaded for retraction from its respective working positions.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of the class described that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, is extremely light in weight so as to not affect the balance of the brush and clip assembly, and which does not mutilate or deface the primary brush on which the same is detachably mounted.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a guide stick for use in combination with a device of the class described herein, said guide stick being provided with a plurality of surplus paint traps.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following specification and claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this application and in which,

7 like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

To the above end, generally stated the invention consists of the following devices and combination of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the invention mounted on a paint brush, the dotted lines indicating a wider brush and the laterally extended position of the invention;

FIG. *2 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIG. 3 is of the same view in transverse section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the invention in its extended position without a brush or guide stick mounted thereon;

FIG. 5 illustrates a modification of the invention aflording adjustable support of a guide stick only, the brush and guide stick being fragmentarily shown;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the guide ramp shown in FIGS. 5 and 6; and

FIG. 8 is an elevational view in transverse section illus trating the stop member providing means to restrict endwise movement of the elements mounted on the paint brush taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 2.

The numeral 9 is directed to a conventional paint brush as an entirety, said paint brush having a handle 10, a base 11, and bristles 12, mounted in the base 11.

A sectional spring clip is laterally adjustable and comprises a pair of identical outer sections 14 and a central section 15. Each of said side sections at its respective outer edge portion, substantially at the longitudinal center of each thereof is provided with a downturned inwardly curved ear-like integral projection 16 constructed and arranged to engage and grip each side portion 17 of the base 11 of the brush 9 with a spring tensioned snap fit and thus hold the assembled sections 14 and 15 in working position on said brush.

It is important to note that the sections 14 and 15 of the clip 13 are fabricated from spring steel for the reasons aforesaid and as will presently be further explained.

Longitudinally spaced along the forward and rear edge portions of the identical side sections 14 of the clip 13 are four substantially square, longitudinally and laterally spaced slots 18. These slots 18 are constructed and arranged to engage two pairs of longitudinally spaced, downturned hook-like projections 19 that are in register with any pair of longitudinally slots 18 in each of the side sections 14-. These hook-like projections are only slightly narrower than the slots 18 and are die stamped from the parent metal of the central section 15 of the clip 13. These hook-like projections 19 are open at the inner end of each thereof so that the projections may be inserted through any pair of said slots 18 in each side section according to the width of the base 11 of the brush 9 to which the assembled clip is to be applied. The slots 18 are so spaced in each side section 14 so that the assembled clip 13 will tightly grip bases having widths of 1 /z-2 2 /23 inches. Obviously with the hook-like projections 19 engaging the proper pairs of slots 18 in the side section 14 the assembled clip 13 may be applied to the base 11 by hooking one of the ears 16 over the edge portion 17 of the base 11 and thence exerting downward pressure on the opposite ear 16 to snap the same into tensioned gripping engagement with the adjacent edge portion 17 of the base 11. It will be understood that in die stamping the downturned hook-like projections from the metal of the central section 15 of the clip 13 a relatively flat-hook is formed and is spaced from the plane of its parent metal only slightly more than the thickness of said metal. This is highly important as it facilitates the assembly of the clip 13 as an entirety with a certain degree of rigidity before the same is applied to the paint brush 9.

The foregoing arrangement of parts is designed to meet most standard brush widths commonly used in painting and decorating.

It may be stated here that with the clip 13 assembled with the hook-like projections engaging the outermost slots 18 the unit will fit a 1 /2 inch brush and as the width is expanded, by engaging outer slots 18 progressively, the unit will properly fit with gripping tension 22% and 3 inch brushes. However, to meet the possibility of use of the clip on an off-standard brush, there is provided a pair of laterally spaced holes 20 in each side of the central section 15 of the clip 13. In such instance the side sections 14 are dispensed with and a small screw, not shown, is inserted through each of the holes 20 and into the base 11 of the brush 9, whereby the central section becomes a permanent part of the said brush 9.

The central section 15 of the clip 13 is stamped from a single piece of metal and is provided at each end thereof with a pair of guide members 21 in the form of an inverted U to form a pair of aligned channels. A pair of V spring fingers 22 are stamped integral from the parent metal of the central section and project upwardly into the opening between the longitudinally spaced, inverted U-shaped guide members for a purpose that will presently appear. Also die stamped from the metal of the central section is an integral spring catch member 23 that is positioned substantially equidistant between the inverted U-shaped guide members and extends transversely thereof to such an extent that its free end portion 24 affords a finger piece whereby downward pressure on the same will release the catch from engagement with its cooperating member as will presently be described. For the purpose of engaging the above noted cooperating member the spring catch 23 is twisted approximately 45 degrees about its longitudinal axis to present a sharp working edge to the said cooperating memher.

As shown in the drawings, a guide stick 25 is shown mounted on the clip 13 and is for the purpose of facilitating the painting of sash and surfaces of a different color to keep the paint on the brush from over-running the adjacent glass and surfaces. This guide stick being the subject matter of a co-pending application for US. Letters Patent above identified, it is only important for the purpose of this application to note its notches 26 in the shaft 27, and the stop apertures 28.

To assemble the guide stick 25 to the assembled clip 13 mounted on the brush 9, the pointed rear end portion of the guide stick 25 is inserted through the forward inverted U-shaped guide channel 21, thence over the pair of spring fingers 22 and the spring catch 23 with the notches 26 in the shaft of the guide stick 25 engaging said spring catch at the working edge portion thereof and then through the rearward inverted U-shaped guide channel 21 and rearwardly projected to the desired position of the guide stick 25 relative to the bristles 12 of the paint brush 9. Obviously this position must be determined by trial and error as the stiffness of said bristles will govern to a great extent the position of the guide stick as well as the particular work problem at hand.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, a modified form of the invention may comprise a permanent type of clip having the form of a ramp 29 that is permanently afiixed to the base 11 of the brush 9 by means of wood screws. This ramp 29 is forwardly and upwardly inclined and at its longitudinal edge portion, see numeral 31, is of greater depth than the central portion 32 thereof and inwardly and downwardly beveled, see numeral 32, at the rear end portion of the said longitudinal edge portions 31 to afford a shallow channel therebetween.

This modification is primarily intended for use with a guide stick 25, the same being applied to the brush 9 by means of a wood screw 34 that extends through a bore 35 in the rear end portion of the guide stick 25 and into the handle 10 of the brush 9. It will be seen that in this arrangement, the guide stick 25 is free to pivot about the screw 34 and the inherent resiliency of the shaft of the guide stick will permit the same to be raised above the plane of the brush handle 10 and the base 11 to permit engagement of the shaft of the guide stick with the central channel portion of the ramp 29. Obviously by virtue of the beveled inner edges 33 of the longitudinal edge portions 31 of said ramp, it will require only normal finger pressure in a lateral direction to disengage the shaft of the guide stick from the ramp. It will be under stood that the screw 34 will be tight enough to hold the guide stick in any predetermined position when out of engagement with the ramp 29.

A pair of longitudinally disposed slots 36' in the edge portion 31 of the ramp 29 afford passageways for the screws 30 and permit minor adjustment of the ramp on the base of the brush as may be required.

A still further modification of the basic invention as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises the use of a coiled spring 37 which encircles the shaft of the guide stick 25 and impinges the rear end portion of the central section 15 of the clip 13 as a base of resistance at its forward end and the stop member 38 at the rear end portion thereof. The stop member 38 is positioned on the guide stick 25 by straddling the same and an internal depending lug 39 is dimensioned to engage any one of the several stop apertures 28 in the shaft of the guide stick 25.

In use it will be apparent that the spring will be compressed between the clip 13 and the stop member when the guide stick is extended and to release the same for retraction of said guide stick, it is only necessary to depress the spring catch 23 by downward pressure on its finger piece 24 thereby disengaging said spring catch from one of the notches 26 in the underside of the shaft of the guide stick 25.

The guide stick 25 is further provided at its outer end portion, and integral with its shaft 27, with a transversely disposed head 25 having a pair of laterally spaced forwardly projected traverse studs 27'. These studs 27 are upwardly and outwardly inclined from the longitudinal plane of the shaft 27 of the guide stick 25 and are constructed to ride on the work surfaces adjacent those being painted, not shown, to hold the bristles 12 of the brush 9 spaced from said surfaces.

A plurality of notches 26 are formed in the underside of each traverse stud 27 and afford paint traps to trap surplus paint that may accumulate thereon by reason of contact of the said bristles 12 and the forward end portion of the guide stick 25.

While there are herein disclosed but a limited number of embodiments of the structure, process and product of the invention herein presented, it is possible to produce still other embodiments without departing rom the inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims as are stated herein or required by the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. A clip attachment for paint brushes for mounting a guide stick or the like thereon comprising in combination, a sectional clip having a pair of outer sections and a central section having a guide channel, cooperating means in the outer sections and the central section for detachably and adjustably connecting said sections as a unit, a guide stick having endwise movements therein, spring means integral with the central section urging the guide stick into frictional engagement with the guide channel and spring latch means integral with the central section cooperating with stop means on the guide stick to lock and release the guide stick at or from a predetermined working position and to restrict the rotation of the mounted guide stick about its horizontal axis.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 further including a stop member detachably mounted on the guide stick cooperating with one of a plurality of stations thereon to limit the forward projection of the guide stick in a longitudinal plane.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 further including a coiled spring encircling the guide stick rearwardly of the central section of the clip and forwardly of the stop member on the guide stick, said coiled spring impinging the central section of the clip and the stop means as bases of resistance to spring load the guide stick for retraction from a predetermined position by manipulation of the spring latch on the central section of the clip.

4. A guide stick mounted on a paint brush, said paint brush having a handle, a base, and bristles mounted in said base, said guide stick comprising in combination, a shaft, a transversely disposed head mounted integral with the outer end portion of the shaft, a pair of laterally spaced traversed studs integral with the head, said traversed studs being upwardly and forwardly inclined from the longitudinal plane of the shaft, and a plurality of notches in the underside of each traverse stud adjacent the bristles of the brush to afford a paint trap for paint accumulated on the guide stick.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,161,378 Day Nov. 23, 1915 2,584,504 Seeber Feb. 5, 1952 5 2,746,076 Rutter May 22, 1956 6 Cooley May 14, 1957 Watro Sept. 24, 1957 Maslaney Ian. 21, 1958 Carrabine Feb. 4, 1958 Kurschner Aug. 2, 1960 

